Republic of Ireland international Alan Quinn is relishing the prospect of rolling up his sleeves and fighting for a bright future at Sunderland.
The 24-year-old midfielder, who was left out of Brian Kerr's squad for the Euro 2004 qualifier in Switzerland, completed a three-month loan move to the Stadium of Light from Sheffield Wednesday last Friday, and has spent the time since getting to know his new team-mates and trying to impress manager Mick McCarthy.
Quinn was back in the Steel City last Saturday to see the Black Cats defeat Wednesday's derby rivals United courtesy of Kevin Kyle's late header, and he has been impressed with what he has seen so far.
"I thought the lads were great against Sheffield United," he said. "The fact that I was at Sheffield Wednesday allowed me to see a lot of United, and not many teams will go there and win. It was a great performance and a great result.
"I didn't know too much about the team here before I arrived, but I've been impressed in the few days I've been here. Sunderland has some good players and I know face a fight to get into the side."
Quinn's early days on Wearside have been more comfortable by the fact that he knows several of McCarthy's players through the Republic of Ireland set-up having been capped from under-17 level to the senior side, for whom he played in the recent friendly against Australia.
"Knowing a lot of the lads has helped me settle in," he said. "They've been great with me and I've enjoyed my short time here.
"I also know Mick McCarthy from his time as Ireland manager, although I was never in one of his squads. He used to come and watch the under-21s at a time when I played for them.
"I've been in the Ireland squad recently and one of the things the manager (Brian Kerr) said to me was that he wants to see me playing at a higher level. That's one of the reasons why I'm happy to move here."
Quinn, who plays down the left, scored three goals in nine appearance for the Owls before his move to Sunderland, just the kind of form which McCarthy will hope he can rediscover in the north-east.
And he is following in the footsteps of compatriots Gary Breen and Colin Healy, who have both made major impacts since regaining full match fitness.
Sunderland are currently flying high in fourth place in Division One after bouncing back from two successive defeats in their opening league fixtures.
The run upon which they have embarked since - they have lost just one of their last nine league games and won seven of them - has increased optimism that an immediate return to the top flight is not as outrageous a prospect as it might have seemed just a few weeks ago.
"Sheffield Wednesday is a big club, but Sunderland is bigger and I'd love to do well here," Quinn said. "The move here excites me and I'm desperate to do well."